


Towards The New Sunset

by KivaEmber



Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Set during chapter 765
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2015-05-15
Packaged: 2018-03-30 17:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3944830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KivaEmber/pseuds/KivaEmber
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a feeling both warm and painful. Corazon loved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Towards The New Sunset

**Author's Note:**

> Law's symptoms were taken from generic lead poisoning, which affects children's neurological functions more acutely than adults'. Aside from that, this is just a random, self-reflection drabble from Corazon's end, because gosh, Law and Corazon's relationship is both touching and tragic - I certainly love these two in a brotherly or parental dynamic. I can't help but imagine how different Law's life could have been if Corazon survived and escaped with him. They would have lived constantly on the run from Doflamingo, but they would have had each other, and Law wouldn't be such an angry, bitter man. Sigh.

Everything was going to change in just a few hours.

 

Corazon chewed on the end of his cigarette, his eyes trained on the dark horizon. It was bitterly cold, the wind stinging and sharp, but at least the storm that had been lashing at them for almost a week had finally blown itself out. Everything was still damp in this tiny boat they had, and he worried – constantly, but even more so now – that it was going to be the wet and the cold that finally finished Law off.

 

He glanced down. Law was all but buried beneath all the blankets they possessed on his lap, plus his feathered coat, with only his hat and half of his face visible. He was a shapeless, black feathered lump, like some sort of baby bird, and Corazon lifted his hand, felt it hover just over the damp fur of the hat, before pulling it away.

 

He felt an odd sort of tranquillity about him – oh, the nervousness was there, really, he was picking a three-way fight with people far more powerful than himself, after all – but there were no doubts about it. He was going to steal the Ope-Ope no Mi for Law, and no matter the consequences, and no matter how it would all end, Corazon knew that at the very least, he would have no regrets. Well, unless he failed. He had to succeed no matter what, even if-

 

“…nnh, Lami… s’okay… no, the festival… stop, no… don’t go… no…”

 

Law’s agitated mumbling drew him from his thoughts. This was becoming a frequent thing, much to Corazon’s uneasiness. To say that Law’s condition had deteriorated would be an insulting understatement; the bad days were practically becoming ‘normal days’, days where Law was in so much agony he couldn’t help but cry like the child he pretended he wasn’t, body trembling, breaths straining, with terrifying, random bouts of listlessness where Law lost touch with reality altogether.

 

Those moments disturbed Corazon the most, Law talking to people long dead, jumbling events together or briefly forgetting them, and mistaking Corazon for Doffy, or calling him ‘Dad’, and then having strange turns where he’d cry or laugh hysterically and not know why. It was horrible, absolutely awful. He knew the Amber Lead Poisoning had some neurological effects outside of the physical, but it was another thing entirely to witness it in all of its tragic glory.

 

He doubted Law would last a week if this failed. Corazon wouldn’t fail. He couldn’t fail. He would not take that regret with him.

 

Corazon tossed his cigarette off the side of the boat, feeling Law shake in his lap, tiny, violent little tremors, his mumbling words now slurred and unintelligible. He couldn’t do anything about this but wait it out, much to his frustration, and he tightened his arm around Law’s tiny shoulders, tucked the blankets and his feathered coat around him more, and stared back out in the horizon. Minion Island was visible as an ominous mound in the distance. He felt the beginnings of snow start to fall, the flakes ice cold against his cheeks.

 

Just a few more hours, he thought, gently rocking Law in his lap, craving another cigarette but not daring to try with his fingers so numb. Last thing he needed was to fumble with the lighter and drop it onto Law. He chewed on his lip instead until he tasted blood.

 

“It’s going to be alright, Law,” he murmured, tucking the boy closer, curling up around him more, trying to vainly make him warmer, even if just by a little bit. The tip of Law’s nose was red, a flush on his cheeks that clashed horribly with his white-patched skin. He hoped it was just from the cold, and not some secondary illness born from the lead poisoning. “In a few more hours, we’ll…”

 

His voice drifted off. Law’s rough breathing filled the quiet that followed. Minion Island crawled closer, and Corazon settled his hand on that ridiculous hat. It was cold and wet, but he kept it there, clutching to a hope that was so desperate it almost burned his heart.

 

“We’ll be free, together. We’ll make enemies of everyone, but we’ll be free, and go far, far away,” he smiled, though it felt more like a grimace, “To wherever you want. We can go anywhere, anywhere at all.”

 

Away from Doffy, he thought privately, and there something inside of him that felt torn about that. He needed to watch him; he needed to take responsibility over his brother and his wickedness, but somehow this… Law was, he was… worth more. He couldn’t sacrifice him to keep vigil over Doffy. Law was worth more than that, Law _needed_ him.

 

It filled a part of him that Corazon didn’t know he possessed. It was was warm and painful, but it was bearable, almost pleasantly so. He didn’t know what to call this mysterious feeling, but he supposed it didn’t matter. All that mattered was…

 

He stared out at Minion Island again, cradling Law in his arms, knowing that in just a few hours…

 

In just a few hours, everything was going to change.

 

He was going to save Law, no matter what.


End file.
